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Macroclimate, Mesoclimate, and Microclimate

Macroclimate is the climate of a region. Mesoclimate differs from the macroclimate of the region due to differences in altitude, slope inclination, aspect or distance from large bodies of water; this term usually describes the climate of a particular vineyard. Microclimate is the climate immediately within and surrounding a plant canopy and can differ within a few centimetres. It may be influenced by canopy management.

"The terroir is the coming together of the climate, soil and the landscape. It is the combination of an infinite number of factors: temperature by night and by day, rainfall distribution, hours of sunlight, slope and drainage to name but a few. All these factors react with each other to form, in each part of the vineyard, what the French call terroir." -Bruno Prats of Cos d'Estournel

Viticulture

How the vine is cultivated or managed.

Phylloxera

A tiny aphid-like insect that attacks the roots of grapevines.

-Initially called phylloxera vastatrix.

-Now (more correctly) called Dactylasphaera vitifoliae.

Nematodes

Microscopic, unsegmented roundworms that feed on plant roots by puncturing and sucking the cell contents; Nematode damage to wine grapes comes from their feeding activity, which reduces water and nutrient uptake of the plant, ultimately affecting vigor and yield.

Pierce's Disease

A lethal disease of grapevine, is caused by the bacterium and is spread by certain kinds of leafhoppers known as Glassy-winged Sharpshooters.

Flavescence Dorée

Impacts include reduced vitality of vines, yield reductions, and reduced wine quality due to high acid and low sugar contents of fruit from infected plants; caused by Phytoplasms, which are are microscopic plant pathogens, similar to bacteria, but much smaller and lacking cell walls. They live in the vascular system of plants and are spread by sap-feeding insects, including leafhoppers and planthoppers.

Oidium

AKA Powdery Mildew, isn't dependent on moisture like other fungi and is found in the dryer California climate where most fungi don't do well. It attacks most parts of the vine including the fruit, leaves, shoots, and tendrils. Powdery mildew can affect the smell, taste, and color of wines made from infected grapes.

Peronospera

AKA Downy Mildew, likes wet, humid areas. Not a problem in California but is found east of the Rocky Mountains, where Vitis Vinifera vines are susceptible to it. Downy mildew produces a white fuzzy growth on the underside of the leaves and attacks the flowers and the fruit. Mildew is of American origin but has been exported to most other winegrowing regions.

Coulure

AKA Shatter. 'Poor fruit set'. Is the consequence of metabolic and weather conditions that cause either the grapevine flowers to not pollinate, so they do not becomes berries, or the tiny berries to fall off soon after they form. This means a poor fruit set. Gewurz and Merlot, Grenache particularly susceptible.

Millerandage

Physiological disorder of the vine that occurs when rain or cold weather interrupts the growth of grape berries at the time of flowering. This can interrupt fertilization and cause many berries to fail to develop, remaining small and seedless, even when the rest of the bunch is full-sized and ripe. Zinfandel part. susceptible.

Eutypia Dieback

(Eutypiose)-"The Dead Arm" strangulation of a limb, affects circulation. Caused by a fungus, more common in older vineyards, symptoms include Stunted spring shoot growth, yellowed and cupped newly emerged leaves, shed blossom clusters. Symptoms best seen in spring. Reduces yields, eventually kills vine.

Hybrids aka Direct Producers

A vine or grape created by breeding two vines from different species (vinifera + labrusca) attempting to get the good fruit of vinifera with the phylloxera/disease resistance of labrusca.

Cross

A vine or grape created by breeding two varieties of the same species (e.g., Muller-Thurgau; Pinotage).

Clone

A plant that has been propagated asexually, usually by cuttings or by grafting. Cloning is done to reproduce plants with the distinctive traits of its "mother" plant such as high productivity, disease resistance, and/or better adaptability to environmental conditions.

Pesticides and Herbicides

Pesticides are chemicals that have various levels of toxicity. Used to prevent, destroy, repel or reduce the harmful effects of fungi, bacteria, insects, nematodes, etc.

Herbicides are chemicals applied to vineyards to control the growth of weeds. Can be either contact or systemic.

Organic Viticulture

A system of grape growing that does not employ industrially synthesized compounds as additions to the soil or vines to maintain or increase fertility, or to combat pest problems.

Biodynamic Viticulture

The most extreme, ideological, and even spiritual of all alternative approaches to viticulture. Heavily influenced by the *theories of Rudolf Steiner.* Similar approach to other forms of organic viticulture but views the soils as an integral part of the symbiosis between planet, air and cosmos.

Famous Biodynamic Producers/Areas

Nicolas Joly, owner of Coulée de Serrant in the Loire Valley; Lalou Bize Leroy, Anne Claude Leflaive and part of Domaine de la Romanée Conti in Burgundy; Zind Humbrecht in Alsace; and Chapoutier in the Rhône

Reasons for pruning

Yield control and quality. Balancing fruit and vegetative growth. Pruning method used depends on the training system employed. Ancient Egyptians and Romans pruned Typically done in winter after first frost.

Spur Pruning

Cut to include only 2-3 buds- commonly used for free-standing vines like Gobelet.

Important stat. in wine production, measure of how much a vineyard produces. Can be tons/acre: *1 ton/acre=17.5 hl/ha.* 1 tonne/ha=7hl/ha. Why is it generally accepted that lower yields are good for wine quality? Heavily cropped vines with low leaf to fruit ratio ripen more slowly.

Traditional Press- vertical screw or basket. Basically the lid of the press is screwed down on the mass of grapes.
Vaslin Press-horizontal screw press. Has two pistons that move toward or away from one another depending on the direction in which the press is rotated. The pistons are connected by chains that break up the mass of grapes. The process can be highly automated, and a single unit can perform the entire series of events from receiving grapes to releasing must.
Pneumatic Press-balloon press. Has a cylindrical bladder that is inflated by air (or by cold water), and which presses the grapes gently between the surface of the bladder and the exterior surface.

Chaptalisation

Addition of sugar to the must prior to or during fermentation. Nothing to do with sweetening the resultant wine, it's about potential alcohol. Sometimes used as a vinification technique to promote certain characteristics. Banned in many countries (Italy), strictly controlled where it is permitted.

Must Enrichment

Different from Chaptalization in that beet and/or cane sugar is NOT used. Grape concentrate is made; a clear, viscous syrup of fructose. RCGM- Rectified Concentrated Grape Must.

Treatments: Sulfur

Use of sulfur dioxide in its various forms is an integral part of grape-growing and wine-making today. Its about quantity and timing. Many positive uses:

In the vineyard-Many sulfur-based sprays used to combat mould and mildew, e.g. Bordeaux Mixture. Used to prevent fermentation of grapes during shipping and storage.

In the winery-Protecting juice and wine from oxidation. 1 molicule of sulfur will combine with 2 molecues of oxygen to form SO2.

Antibacterial Properties- Prevents spoilage due to acetobacters. Antioxidant- Inhibits the negative effects of oxygen at many stages of production. Antiseptic- considered essential in maintaining hygienic winery equipment.

Potential Sulfur Negatives

Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S)- Formed when sulfur reacts with yeasts during fermentation. Smells like rotten egg gas.

Mercaptans- If H2S is left untreated it will react with other chemicals (most notably ethyl alcohol) to form these potent compounds. Can smell like burnt rubber, rotten game, rancid garlic. The resulting flavour of the wine will generally be astringent.

The Algerian Ducellier system, or autovinificator, is really another form of pumping-over, but needs no external power, harnessing the energy from the fermentation in the form of CO2 pressure to move the juice to the top of the vat. Used in the Upper Douro, where there was no electrical power. Such is the efficiency and simplicity that it is now found in modern winemaking countries such as Australia.

Carbonic Maceration

2 important factors necessary: The use of whole bunches of undamaged grapes and a fermentation vessel that can be filled with CO2.

The fermentation takes place in two distinct stages, the first in a specially prepared closed vat at an elevated temperature, the second in an ordinary vat at normal temperature. The main principle is that the first stage, the true carbonic maceration, take place without the involvement of yeast. The alcohol that is produced during this phase is formed by *intracellular fermentation* inside the grape, using the grapes own enzymes (this is why the grapes must be whole). The biochem reactions cause temp to rise to 30-35 C. This process is allowed to continue for 5-15 days, during which time about 3% alcohol is produced. During the 2nd phase, the more usual extracellular fermentation takes place, using the yeasts from the skins of the grapes.

Fining

Fining is done to remove suspended matter. Different substances are used to coagulate with the suspended matter and precipitate. Egg white, Bentonie, Isinglass, ox blood.

Quercus robur and Quercus sessilis- Tighter grained European brown oaks. More, but finer tannins. Staves are split. *Troncais, Allier, Vosges and Nevers are the most well-known of the French forests. These are all from the Quercus sessilis family. These are forest oaks as opposed to solitary trees. Grow straighter trunks and branches start higher. Four times richer in aromatic compounds.

The "degree days" classification system, a technical measure that sums temperatures exceeding 50 degrees between April and October, reflects these general differences.

The Köppen climate classification was developed by Wladimir Köppen, a German climatologist, around 1900. It is based on the concept that native vegetation is the best expression of climate, thus climate zone boundaries have been selected with vegetation distribution in mind. It combines average annual and monthly temperatures and precipitation, and the seasonality of precipitation.

Triage

the sorting process wherein the bunches of grapes are examined for ripeness and uniformity and any bad
sections, unripe grapes, raisins, rot, or excess stems and leaves are cut out. Most often, this is done on sorting tables
topped with slow moving conveyer belts to feed the clusters past the experienced workers. Mandatory only in CDP AOC.

Racking

Moving the wine from one barrel to another, often using a siphon (pumps also may be
used) to get the clear wine off its lees in the old barrel and feed the wine some oxygen through air exposure.

Pigeage

The process of punching down the cap to drown aerobic bacteria and assist the cuvaison process, allowing extraction of color, flavor, and tannin.

"Pumping Over"

The more typically Bordelaise practice of pumping juice from the bottom of the tank and spraying it
over the top of the cap so it extracts color and flavor and tannin as it filters through.

Microbiolage/Micro-Oxygenation

A technique for bubbling a small amount of oxygen into wine in the barrel for gentle oxygenation
without racking the wine off its lees.

Autolysis

A decomposition of dead yeast cells that occurs in wines that are aged sur lie. Winemakers believe that certain wines-like those made with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc grapes-benefit from autolysis because they gain complexity during the process. Autolysis affects sparkling wines as well when they age sur lie.

Barrique

The term used in Bordeaux to specify the 225-liter (almost 60-gallon) oak barrels that are used for storing and aging wine. It's similar in size to the PIÈCE used in Burgundy.

Mutage

Arresting fermentation by adding SO2 and filtering, or by the addition of grape spirit to the must. The latter is used in port and vin doux naturel production.

Vin de Paille

French for "straw wine," referring to wines made from grapes that are dried by spreading them out on mats or trays or by hanging them in bunches. The name comes from the original practice of using straw mats during the drying process.These sweet wines come from Alsace and the Jura primarily, as well as the Rhône.

Vin Jaune

Vin jaune (literally yellow wine) is an unusual wine made in the Jura region of France.
Made from late harvest Savagnin grapes. They are fermented slowly and then kept in small old oak casks. Casks are not topped up. Flor grows over the wine, protecting it partially from oxidation. Acquires the typical yellow colour and flavours as it ages for six years and three months. At this point only about 62% of the original wine remains and so, is bottled in 62cl wine bottles called clavelins.

Vin Doux Naturel

Describes fortified wines where grape spirit has been added before completion of fermentation. This action kills the yeast, and the unfermented sugar causes the wine to be sweet. Most VDN white wines are made from Muscat, usually Muscat à Petits Grains or Muscat of Alexandria. AOCs noted for their VDN whites include Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. The best known VDN red and Rose wines, produced primarily from Grenache, are from the ACs of Banyuls, Maury, Rasteau, and Rivesaltes.

Weissburgunder synonyms

Pinot Blanc, Pinot Bianco

Pinot Gris synonyms

Rulander, Pinot Grigio

Gewurtztraminer synonyms

Traminer Aromatico

Nebbiolo synonyms

Spanna, Chiavennesca

Galestro

soil type (marl) in Chianti Classico

Governo technique

A Vinification technique used in Tuscany (primarily Chianti) whereby the must from grapes previously set aside to dry and shrivel is added to the already-fermented wine. This causes a secondary fermentation, creating wines that are softer, higher in alcohol, more deeply colored, and, sometimes, slightly Frizzante. Although not practiced much anymore, some producers desirous of a smooth-drinking wine still use this technique. The more common practice, however, is to use a grape concentrate instead of semidried grapes.

Ugni blanc synonyms

Trebbiano

Mistelle

Partially fermented grape juice in which fermentation has been stopped by the addition of alcohol. Because only small amounts of the grape sugars have usually been converted to alcohol, mistelle is very sweet. It's used mainly as a base for Aperitifs, particularly Vermouth. Spirit is added much earlier than in VDN production.

Cool, dry air that blows in, drys vineyards, saves many vintages from early fall rot in Burgundy.

Fermage

In Burgundy, a simple rental agreement with the tenant paying in cash, after which they are free, but responsible for all expenses.

Métayage

In Burgundy, a share-cropping agreement. The landlord pays the capital costs (replanting, etc.) and is recompensed by a portion (normally half) of the fruit. The tenant may also go as far as making the wine and selling it (bulk or bottle) on the landlord's behalf.

Chablis soil types

Kimmeridgian is the soil considered suitable for great Chablis (all Chablis Grand Cru are on "K"). It is a sticky mixture of clay and limestone, and contains a high proportion of fossilized oyster shells. Only found in Chablis and in the Bay of Kimmeridge, England. Portlandian soils is a layer found covering the Kimmeridgian in places. It is high in calcium, but with little clay and fossils, and is regarded as not having the same complexity.

Bordeaux mixture

Lime and copper sulfate. Used to fight moisture and fungal disease.

Green Harvesting

Often used in Bordeaux, it is the process of going through the vineyard during the growing season and cutting bunches of grapes off of the vine so that the remaining bunches get all of the nutrients and richness from the plant.

Vin de Presse

Produced after the wine has completed alcoholic fermentation and malolactic conversion. The wine is drawn off its lees into casks and the residue of skin and pips at the bottom of the vat is pressed. The resulting liquid is low in alcohol, very dark and extremely tannic. Often added back to the wine to give extra body, tannins, increase longevity.

Vin de Goutte

The "free run juice" produced by the first racking. leaves behind the lees that result in Vin de Presse.

Élevage

The aging process, often in oak barrels

Cuvaison

French term for the period when grape juice is kept in contact with the skins and seeds during both fermentation and maceration. Critical in the making of red wines, cuvaison allows color, tannins, and aroma to be transferred from the skins and seeds to the juice.

Maceration

The period of time grape juice spends in contact with the skins and seeds.

Remontage

The process of pumping the fermenting grape juice over the cap during cuvaison.

Racking

The process of siphoning off the clear juice from the sediment that has fallen to the bottom of the container either naturally or with the help of fining agents. During the winemaking process, racking can occur three or four times before the wine is clear. After racking, some wines are also filtered prior to bottling to remove any remaining miniscule particles. Also called soutirage.

Débourbage

The process of allowing white wine must to settle prior to racking off the wine, thereby reducing the need for fining or filtration.

Enzymes

Acts as a catalyst, a substance that promotes a particular chemical reaction, but does not actually take part in it.

Véraison

The period during which the grape changes its appearance: in black varieties the colour starts to show in the skins, and white grapes take on a more translucent appearance, sometimes with hints of yellow in the colour.

Micro-Oxygenation

The controlled introduction of a very slow stream of oxygen into wine as it ages in a tank, mirroring the (natural) gentle oxygenation found with barrel ageing. the result is a wine that is smoother and softer, with better integration of the tannins, and yet will still develop in bottle.

Pigeage

The manual punching-down of the cap, helps drown aerobic bacteria and encourage cuvaison.

Saignée

This winemaking process involved bleeding off a portion of red wine after only a short period of contact of the juice with the grape skins. Because the colour of red wine is derived from pigments in the skins, the juice is only pink not red.

Batonnage

Stirring the lees with a stick to increase flavor extraction.

Vin de Liqueur

A fortified wine which has had its fermentation completely averted by the addition of alcohol, usually in the form of brandy or marc, to the unfermented grape juice. The resulting wine is sweet due to the high amounts of residual sugar and, without benefit of the complexity of flavour that would have come from fermentation, is often dominated by the added spirit. Examples are Pineau des Charentes (Cognac) Floc de Gascogne (Armagnac) and Macvin de Jura.

Foulage

French term for 'crushing'

Égrappage

Destemming

Effeuillage

Leaf Removal

Isinglass

A particularly pure protein obtained from the bladders of sturgeon and other fish used for fining wines.

Isinglass reacts with the excess tannins in harsh young red wines. Expensive.

Exogyra virgula

Comma-shaped fossil found in Chablis, the Aube, and one of Sancerre's 3 soil types (terres blanches, a weathered Kimmeridgian limestone marl)

Soutirage

AKA 'racking'. The transfer of wine from one container to another, leaving the lees behind.

Bayanus

Saccharomyces bayanus is a special yeast strain that can ferment at high sugar.

Beginning to be utilized in Veneto.

Geneva Double Curtain

-The concept aims to improve grape quality by reducing shade within a dense canopy by dividing the mass of foliage in two.
-Trunk is grown high, with two permanent cordons, each one trained out to run along a supporting wire. Along the cordons are spurs which hang down toward the ground. Particularly useful for vines of high vigor, improving exposure, quality, and yield.
-Ideal for wide-spaced rows of high-yielding grapes.

Cordon Training

Vines have a short trunk. A permanent branch, or cordon, is trained along a wire on one side of the vine. The cordon, which is never pruned away, bears a number of spurs.

Cordons may be unilateral or bilateral. The cordons are trained across a trellis. One significant advantage of this method is its suitability to mechanical pruning (spurs are all at a very similar height along the cordon).

Optimum Wine Fermentation Temps

Range: 10°C-30°C

Whites: 18°C (10°C-17°C)
Reds: 29.4°C

As an oak barrel is charred, a complex group of compounds is created. What are they, and how do they influence the flavor of wine?

Carbohydrate Degradation Products

-Furfurals create a nutty character most noticed with light-toasted barrels.

-Maltol and cyclotene create a caramel-like flavor and are most noticed in heavily-charred barrels. They also act as flavor potentiators, increasing the perception of other flavors.

What compound in oak is responsible for the vanilla flavor in wine? How is it influenced?

Phenolic Aldehydes (best known is vanillin)- Creates other flavors as well, but vanilla is the most obvious.

-Open-air seasoning increases levels.

-Kiln-drying decreases levels.

-Toasting brings compounds to the surface.

What compound in oak is responsible for the coconut-like flavor? How is it influenced?

Lactones:

-Open-air seasoning decreases levels.

-Kiln-drying preserves/concentrates levels.

-Toasting brings lactones to the surface.

What compound in oak creates the allspice or clove-like character found in wine? How is it influenced?

What compounds of oak give color and tannin to wine? What do they protect the wine from?

Tannin and Phenolics

They protect the wine from oxidation and reductive aromas.

Saignée

French term meaning 'bled', for a winemaking technique which results in a rosé wine made by running off ('bleeding') a certain amount of free-run juice from just-crushed, dark-skinned grapes after a short, pre-fermentation maceration.

Increases skin-to-juice ratio on the remaining red wine.

Flor

A specific strain of film-forming saccharomyces. Diminishes glycerol and volatile acids. Increases aldehydes and esters. Imparts a distinctive flavor. Very specific requirements for survival. Optimum alcohol level is 15.5%. Must have a low SO2 content and near-absence of fermentable sugars.

Olorosos lack 'flor protection' (flor kills acetobacters), so they are fortified to a higher alcohol percentage to protect the wine from turning to vinegar.

French term for lees stirring. Done partially to avoid the development of H2S. Also improves mouthfeel and stability of wines.

Délestage

AKA 'rack and return'.

Process used to produce softer red wines by reducing harsh tannins from grape seeds. After a cold soak of juice and skins, the juice is drawn off into a separate tank, allowing the cap to fall to the bottom and drain. During this time, many seeds are loosened and filtered out.

Afterwards, juice is pumped back into the first tank, remixing with the now-seedless cap.

Name 5 types of vine pests

-Animals
-Leaf Hoppers
-Margarodes
-Mites
-Phylloxera

Cordon de Royat

Vine training system utilized in Burgundy and Champagne.
-It is a unilateral cordon grown close to the ground with (usually) 4 spur-pruned buds for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
-Usually 8 spur-pruned buds for Gamay.

What is a fuder? What is a stück?

Fuder is a 1000 liter barrel used mostly in the Mosel region. A stück is 1200 liters and is found mostly in the Rheingau.